Vol. 224 No. 8
asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he made suggestions to the authorities at Radio or Telefís Éireann following which news items were changed or deleted; and, if so, the number of occasions and the reasons for his actions on all such occasions.
10.
asked the Minister for External Affairs whether he suggested to Radio or Telefís Éireann that certain individuals be not allowed to broadcast; if so, the number of occasions and the reasons for his actions on all such occasions.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 10 together.
I would refer the Deputy to the reply already given today by the Taoiseach to similar questions addressed to him.
Would the Taoiseach mind repeating the reply to Question No. 3 because I did not catch the reply?
There was no separate reply to No. 3; Questions Nos. 2 and 3 were replied to together.
Did the Taoiseach say he was not going to give any further information in reply to No. 3? Does it simply mean that the Taoiseach will not give any further information?
It is all there.
Let the Taoiseach reply.
What I am making clear is that I am not renouncing any right I have to make representations to the Radio Telefís Authority in respect of these matters.
Is it true that people have been prevented from going on and that certain individuals have not been allowed to broadcast?
What I am asserting is that if, in my judgement, it is in the public interest that representations be made to Telefís Éireann, I will make them.
Does it mean then that the Government retain the right to decide who should and who should not?
We do not claim that right, nor have we exercised it.
Would the Taoiseach be in a position to say how many times the Authority rejected a suggestion of his or of any member of the Government that certain individuals would not be allowed to go on?
I will not say that.
This is amazing to me in any case. I did not believe, when we were discussing this measure in the House and when we gave the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs certain powers, that there were not powers like these in a political age.
So far as the Government are concerned in relation to all the State-sponsored bodies, we have an overriding obligation to see that they are fulfilling the purpose for which the Oireachtas set them up. That is the duty of the Government and the Government will fulfil that duty in whatever is the most appropriate way.
Would the Taoiseach state on what basis he might object to a particular individual?
It would not be on a Party basis. I cannot envisage the circumstances but it would not be on a Party basis.
Does not a particular important parliamentary principle arise? The Taoiseach claims the same right to approach Radio Telefís Éireann, as any other Minister charged with the responsibility for a State-sponsored body has a right to make such representation, but will he not agree that any such Minister — notably the Minister for Transport and Power—if he makes a specific representation outside the day-to-day operations of the institution, is bound to answer to this House for the order he gave? Is the Taoiseach not now claiming the right to give directions or make representations of an exceptional character to a State-sponsored body, without the corresponding obligation of answering to Oireachtas Éireann for the order he gave? If this is admitted, then no Minister need answer to O'ireachtas Éireann for any of his executive or administrative acts.
I am aware that the Fine Gael Party sent a delegation to Telefís Éireann about programmes. I do not care what they said.
Nobody claims that Radio Telefís Éireann is like a leper colony into which no citizen of this State may send a letter or speak a word. All I am asking the Taoiseach is this. He says: "I have as much right as Head of the Government to make representations to Radio Telefís Éireann as a State-sponsored body", just as he says: "any of my Ministers responsible for a State-sponsored body is entitled, under specific circumstances, to take a specific action". I am asking does the Taoiseach not agree with me that one of his Ministers, doing that in respect of a State-sponsored body, must then answer to Dáil Éireann if he is asked to do so? Does the Taoiseach claim the right, exceptionally, in regard to Radio Telefís Éireann that he can make these exceptional representations or issue these exceptional orders, without the corresponding right to answer to Dáil Éireann because, if he does, that is all wrong, because the only difference between dictatorship and parliamentary government is that all the Ministers — whether they are Fine Gael, Labour, or Fianna Fáil Ministers—can be called to account for their actions in Dáil Éireann? If you once deny that, you might as well shut this blooming place up.
There is a question on the Order Paper today relating to a specific incident and that will be answered.
